Waste and Recycling

You can find site hours and information on the Waste Disposal Site page.

Please be aware that site hours change on October 16 to winter hours, and on May 1 to summer hours.

Important note: The winter hours listed on the hours card included with green user ID cards mailed with tax bills in June are incorrect. Hours and operating days have not changed, this is a printing error. Replacement hour cards are available from site attendants, cards with corrected winter hours have a check mark in the bottom right corner on the winter hours side. The error does not effect your ID card (the part with your address and the QR code). 

A valid Algonquin Highlands Landfill User ID card is required to be presented to the attendant before accessing any Algonquin Highlands waste management site. New landfill cards are issued every two years and are mailed to you with your tax bill. You should have received a new lime green card with you final tax bill mailed out on June 16, 2026.

Have you lost your landfill card? Replacement cards can be requested. Please use our online request form.(link opens in a new window). Once we receive your completed request, a replacement card will be mailed to you. Take good care of your card! You are welcome to laminate it, apply protective coatings, secure it in a case, etc. Please note that digital copies (photographs, scans, etc.) and other types of reproductions are not acceptable.

If you are hiring a contractor who will be taking waste to the landfill on your behalf, you are required to fill out a Contractor Authorization Permit. This permit will allow your contractor to use our landfill and shows the Attendant that the waste originated within our municipality.

Do you rent your cottage on a short term basis? If so, you know the hassles of trying to manage your landfill cards. There is a great alternative available ... The Cottage Kit! (link opens a new window or tab)

The Cottage Kit offers a convenient, affordable and simple alternative to managing your waste disposal site ID card at your rental cottage. The kit contains everything a person or family renting a cottage needs in order to manage their garbage and recycling for a week -- recycling and waste disposal info, recycling and garbage bags, plus a one-time Landfill Pass that eliminates the need for a waste disposal site ID card. 

Available for purchase - $3 each or ten kits for $25 - at the Township office, 1123 North Shore Rd., online (link opens in a new window) and from site attendant at Maple Lake, Dorset Transfer Station or Oxtongue Lake waste disposal site. Kits purchases online will need to be picked up at the Township office, Maple Lake waste disposal site or Dorset Transfer Station..

Purchase a Cottage Kit now. 

As of January 1, 2008, all household garbage must be in a clear bag or open container, so that all waste is visible and easily identified by the Attendant. The purpose of this regulation is to help ensure that recyclables and hazardous waste materials do not end up in our landfills. If any recyclable materials or prohibited waste are found within the clear bags, the bags will be refused or the Attendant will ask you to remove and properly sort the waste.

Illegal dumping is the dumping of waste anywhere except at an approved waste disposal site. This includes in the woods, along the side of the road, on private property, in someone else’s dumpster without permission, or at the gate of a waste management site. Illegal dumping is costly to taxpayers and damaging to the environment. Incidents of illegal dumping are investigated by the By-law Enforcement Officer, and offenders could receive fines of $300 per incident.

Algonquin Highlands is bear country and bears love garbage. But with careful management of your waste, you can reduce the chance of attracting bears to your property:

Do not stockpile garbage. Take it to the landfill frequently.
Keep meat scraps and cooked food waste in the freezer until you are ready to take it to the landfill.
Store garbage in a bear-resistant container, secure shed or garage.
Never put meat, bones, fish or dairy products in your compost bin.
For more information on what you can do to reduce the chance of attracting bears to your home or cottage, visit the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) Bear Wise website. To report a bear problem, contact the OMNRF Bear Reporting Line at 1-866-514-2327, TTY 705-945-7671. In an immediate emergency, call your local police or 9-1-1.

If you are a contractor working at a site in Algonquin Highlands and you wish to bring waste from that site to an Algonquin Highlands waste disposal site, you will need to have the property owner complete a Contractor Authorization Form.

Site attendants will ask you for your landfill User ID card when you arrive at a waste disposal site. Let them know you do not have an ID card and provide them with the completed contractor authorization form. This form lets the site attendant know that a Township of Algonquin Highlands property owner has given you permission to bring materials on their behalf for disposal.